FAQ: WAVE ENERGY

FAQ: What is HUG Wave Energy?

FAQ: HUGwave energytechnology is a new and unique way to harness the velocity of sea water using a vortex. The unusually high slab waves created by an artificial reef fills a reservoir that holds 15 feet of water above sea level, which drains down and activates a helical turbine that energizes a submersible pump. The resulting high pressure water is transferred by pipeline to a traditional turbine system that creates electricity.

HUG Helical Turbine uses Vortex Velocity

We have all experienced a Vortex in our lives: the fast draining sink.

The earth’s gravitational force aligns the water molecules in one clockwise direction.

This alignment speeds up the flow.

We use the HUG spiraling drainage system, which creates a vortex in order to speed up the flow.

Vortex in a Sink

What part does an artificial reef play in the HUG Wave Energy?

The important step is to build aHUG Artificial Reef in order to capture the high slab waves, which feed within the high seawall of the reservoir located directly behind the reef. A slab wave is a heavy reef breaking wave coming out of deep water and breaking in very shallow water.

HUGSlab Wave from an Artificial Reef

To facilitate the building of the reef with stonework, a road worthy dike is built from the shore in order to accommodate dump trucks and excavators.

The HUG System is placed upon a barge in the middle of the reservoir which drains the seawater down to the sea level past a series of helical turbines.

Road Worthy Sea Wall for BreakWater

How does the HUG compare to Solar, Wind and other Wave Energy Systems?

HUG Cost Comparison

Look at the advantage of theHUG Wave Power over both Solar and Wind Power: less cost, higher revenue and higher Return on Investment.

HUGTechnology is “Base load” Renewable Energy technology. A hydroelectric dam is a base load technology. Most of the base load technology we rely on for day in and day out electricity is both base load like coal, gas, or nuclear unfortunately.

We have the ability to generate renewable energy on location for less money and the most important locations are all the islands in the world, which all have wave power. Even though the waves are generally moderate, the artificial reef, which is built in the front of our HUGSystem, will raise the waves much higher.

How does this idea compare to other technologies being pursued to capture wave energy?

The SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES between HUG and the other wave energy devices being developed:

LOW-COST

HUG Systems are ultra-simple, only 3 moving parts: the helical turbine, the submersible pump and the electric generator. This has several implications. They will be very low-cost, providing a very low capital cost per kW.

LOW-MAINTENANCE, DURABILITY

The HUG will be very low-maintenance. The only expected maintenance will be adding a few drops of oil to the generator bearings every year, and possibly replacing the turbine every 10 years

When you examine other devices carefully, you’ll often see gears, joints, sliding parts with hard stops built in, etc. – all exposed to the seawater. And, when you look inside most other devices, you’ll often see hydraulic lines, hydraulic rams, other hydraulic components, hand-made linear generators, neodymium magnets, etc. – very complex, very expensive, and very difficult to repair at sea.

SCALABLE Furthermore, the HUG Float can operate in the deep sea, and not just onshore or near-shore like so many of the other systems being developed or deployed today, farms of HUG Floats will not damage or displace sensitive coastal ecosystems, won’t interfere with local shipping, and will be able to scale virtually without limit, providing as much power as is needed.

How do you calculate the Return on Investment, which appears very high?

Click to see larger image:

The Extremely Profitable HUG:

High Capacity High Energy Density

The HUGWave Power System produces high power density of 11 MW earning $7.5 million/year @ $.34/kWh (Hawaii) or $0.086/kWh (wholesale).

The operating cost is negligible during its entire lifetime of 30 years: $0.02/kWh. A green energy grant of $0.05/kWh will reduce this cost.

Return on an initial $10 million Investment is 75%.

How flexible and how easy is the HUG to maintain?

#1 The Flexible HUG

The HUGWave Energy System can be located in populated places that only have moderate wave action by creating a high slab wave.

The HUG can be built at minimum sizes according to the needs and the budget availability.

#2 The Low Maintenance HUG

A crane on a barge can lift and replaces each of the six HUG turbine systems from their barge.

Explain your idea of a Surfing Tourist Attraction!

We are at the cusp of a new commercial Tourist Attraction.

There are only a limited number of perfect surfing waves.

Our surfing site has NOsharp jagged bottoms.

The beauty of this artificial wave is that you can build it in many locations even in areas of moderate waves.

Of course, the real reason to introduce a slab wave that is created by an artificial reef is to provide electricity.

HUG Reservoir for the Slab Wave

The actual artificial reef is actually angled at 45 degrees and has a total breadth of 50 to 100 m.

What is stopping Canada and the USA from developing wave power farms on a mass scale?

The energy industry is still a very difficult market to innovate in. It’s still a lot harder and more time-consuming to make money through energy innovation than it is to make it through, say, a dating or photo-sharing app,

Cost is the number one disadvantage of wave energy: many innovators grope for the silver bullet and the costs are high only because of the wrong initial path.

Quite often competitive wave energy plants are built in areas which are remote and far from the grid and at the same distance away from the need for electricity. This makes the connectivity to the grid expensive and difficult.

Out of Box Innovation

Inventions whose ideas remain in the Box, which are only a slight change to present ideas, have never succeeded in the last 30 years.The energy industry needs an infusion of new ways of doing things.

What are your next steps in developing the HUG?

A $1,300,000 HUG Floating System would be part of a more expensive HUGWave Energy System.

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